Punjab Wildlife Department sells seven pairs of African lions from Safari Park in Lahore

Lions for sale

The Punjab Wildlife Department's safari park has also been hit by a lockdown. Wildlife Punjab has sold seven pairs of African lions, while six more pairs are also under preparation.

According to Dr Mohammad Azhar, a stunt director at Safari Park Lahore, the lions were sold at Rs 1.5 lakh per person and Rs 3 lakh per pair and their ages ranged from one to twelve years.

The director of Wildlife Punjab Department Mohammad Naeem Bhatti told the BBC that there were various reasons for selling the tigers.

Naeem Bhatti said, “The current area of ​​Safari Park is 80 acres. In which we had 49 lions. The majority of them are African lions. Breading was held in Safari Park. This area was insufficient for that number. Which is why these lions were not living so comfortably. '

"Along with this we have received gifts from four lions and tigers from the United Arab Emirates. We want them to be bred with these African lions. Now, unless further space can be made for them in the same canal, their breeding will not be possible with those coming from the UAE.

Wildlife Punjab has sold seven pairs of African lions, while six more pairs are also under preparation.
They said the lions sold had some small defects.

'Some were not full size and others were suffering from problems. The looks did not look more beautiful than the others. So it was better to sell them. '

"Similarly, the administration of Safari Park does not receive any funding from the government for their food. The fund was funded by the Safari Park administration itself. They used to spend Rs 30,000 daily on food, but now in the lockdown situation, when people are not coming to safari park, it was difficult to meet the expenses. ”

Naeem Bhatti said that there were already suggestions to reduce the sale of tigers and to reduce the shortage of space, and when there was a problem of shortage of funds, it was decided to sell them.

He said it would also help the Safari Park administration run its budget for the next few weeks.

Naeem Bhatti said that the lions were sold to private breeding farms registered with the Punjab government.

According to Mohammed Naeem Bhatti, besides these seven pairs, six more pairs have also been identified, which have been offered for sale by different breeding farms.

"Various interested people have been examined, but a final decision is yet to be made."